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| Graceton No. 1 Mine & Coke Works (Mikesell Mine & Coke Works) (ca.1886- ? ), Located on the Indiana Branch of the Western Pennsylvania Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Graceton, Center Twp., Indiana Co.,PA Owners: (ca.1886- ? ), George A. Mikesell Company, Mikesell Station, PA (ca.1888- ? ), Guthrie, Graff & Company, Blairsville, PA (ca.1892- ? ), McCreary Coal & Coke Company, Graceton, PA (ca.1898- ? ), McCreary Coke Company, Graceton, PA (ca.1900- ? ), Graceton Coke Company, Graceton, PA [A subsidary of Youngstown Steel Company, Youngstown, OH] (ca.1905- ? ), Graceton Coke Company, Graceton, PA (ca.1920- ? ), Graceton Coal and Coke Company, Graceton, PA [A subsidary of Vinton Colliey Company, New York, NY.] (ca.1936- ? ), Coal Mining Company of Graceton, Graceton, PA (ca.1945-1953), Smith & Burns Company, Graceton, PA [Leased the works from the Coal Mining Company of Graceton.]
Graceton No. 2 Mine & Coke
Works(ca.1892- ? ),
Graceton No. 3 Mine (ca.1905-
? ), |
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| A portion of the U.S.G.S. Indiana, PA 15min.
quad Map 1902 ed. showing the Graceton Mine & Coke Works. The map
shows the two coke plants of the Graceton Coke Works, the ovens show up as
heavy dashed lines. (Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.) |
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| A portion of the U.S.G.S. Indiana, PA 15min.
quad Map 1902 ed. (top) showing Graceton Mine & Coke Works and the U.S.G.S.
New Florence, PA 15 min. quad Map 1922 ed. (bottom) showing Coral Mine &
Coke Works (Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.) |
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| Graceton Coal Company Mine tipple,
ca.1915. (Courtesy of the Homer-Center Historical Socirty, Homer City, PA.) |
| DESCRIPTION: The coal patch town of Graceton is located in southern Center Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, three miles south of Homer City, PA. The roughly forty houses constructed for the coal miners and their families and the coke workers and their families were arranged on three main streets paralleling the Indiana-Blairsville Road, presentday PA Rt. 119. The Indiana Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad served the Graceton Mines & Coke Works. The Indiana County Street-railway line provided trolley service between Indiana & Blairsville, however, all that remains of both are the railbeds, with portions of both destroyed. The "Hoodlebug Trail" a walking and bike trail now follows the abandoned railroad bed. The Graceton coke works bee-hive coke oven sites, across present PA Rt. 119, were reclaimed in the summer of 1990. About thirty of the original miners houses survived in ca.1993. Most were built on two plans. The more comon houses were two family houses, and two stories in height, with entrances on either sides of the facade sheltered only by small stoops. The houses were clad in french-lap asbestos shingle siding, and are topped by side-gable roofs. One-story original shed sections extend across the rear; behind these, were small porches. Many of the proches have been enclosed. The other type of houses are of a similiar plan, but are somewhat larger, and have half-hipped porches across the front and larger rear porches. The widening of PA Rt. 119 to four lanes in ca.2004 has destroyed most of the remaining evidence of the Indiana Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad bed that served the Graceton mines and coke works. The roadbed of the Indiana Electric Railway through Graceton is now part of the Indiana County Parks Hoodlebug bike trail. |
| HISTORY: By 1886, however, the first stirrings of a future coke industry were felt a few miles from Blairsville. That year, George A. Mikesell, a successful farmer, decided to expand his local coal business by building 12 bee-hive coke ovens on his land nine miles from Indiana. Firebrick for Mikesell's bee-hive coke ovens were made at the Black Lick brickyard by Meldron and Company. Once completed, the tiny battery of bee-hive coke ovens were charged with local coal, and in the summer of 1887, the first coke made in Indiana County was pulled from the coke ovens on Mikesell's property. Later, additional coal to supply the coke ovens was leased from small mines at nearby Reed. An initial load of coke, sold to the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, proved satisfactory, and soon the plot of ground on which the ovens sat had a name; the little plant and the surrounding area became appropriately known as "Mikesell Station." |
| Encouraged by his early success, George
Mikesell slowly acquired an increasing number of customers for his coke in
the area foundries. But after only a year in the coke business, limited capital
forced him to sell his mine and coke ovens to J. M. Guthrie, Jacob Graff,
and G. T. Kirkland, doing business under the name Guthrie, Graff & Company,
who by October, 1888 had constructed an additional 37 bee-hive coke ovens
near the site of the Mikesell Coke Works.
In ca.1890, ownership of Indiana County's first coke ovens changed hands again. That year, Guthrie, Graff and Kirkland, having tried their hands at the coke business, sold their interests to a firm composed of J. W. Moore of Greensburg, John McCreary, and Harry McCreary. Under the direction of the new owners, George Mikesell's original string of 12 bee-hive coke ovens was enlarged to 15 and "Coke Plant No. 2" was planned and put under construction. Eventually, the number of bee-hive coke ovens totalled 202. At the same time, the company owned coal patch town of Graceton came into existence to house the immigrate coal and coke workers who came to work at the mines and coke ovens. Harry McCreary, although not yet 30 years old at the time of his venture into Indiana County coke production, was no stranger to beehive ovens. After completing a course of study at the Utica (New York) Business College, young McCreary secured a position as secretary and manager of the properties of J. W. Moore, a successful Connellsville coke operator. During those years, J. W. Moore and his brother owned a large coke plant near Uniontown. In 1885, Moore began the development of his coking coal lands in Westmoreland County. At that site, Harry McCreary was given the responsibility of construction of 500 ovens at two plants known as Mamouth No. 1 and No. 2. During the building, young McCreary became familiar with all aspects of the coke industry. In 1889, J. W. Moore sold his Westmoreland coke facilities to the formidable Henry Clay Frick and H. C. Frick Coke Company of Scottdale, PA. The selling price was reputedly $1,250,000 surely a testimony to the capability of McCreary's management of the properties. Therefore, after the sale, Frick asked McCreary to remain as manager of the plants, and offered an increased salary. Having completed six months in that capacity, however, young Harry decided to join J. W. Moore, his former employer, as a full partner in the McCreary Coke Company. |
In the beginning the finished coke was loaded into boxcars
for shipment at the Graceton Coke Works. Later coke hopper cars were
used. |
| Albert "Led" Oswalt has spent his entire
life at Graceton, and most residents know him best in his role as community
postmaster. "Led" explains that, at first, Graceton was known as "Ranson."
"When the Pennsylvania Railroad went-through between Blairsville and Indiana,
there were no towns at all along the line -- just stations. There was Reed
Station, and Rugh Station, and where Graceton is now, that was called Ransom
Station. So when Harry McCreary applied to establish a post office here,
he put 'Ransom' on the blank, but the application was returned because there
was already a town of that name in the hard coal region. So they named the
town Graceton. Many people believe that the town was named for a member of
the McCreary family, but really, it's a mystery where the name came from.
At any rate, the first post office was established here in 1892, and Harry
McCreary was the first postmaster." Following the pattern of earlier
Jefferson County coal and coke towns, the coal company owned coal patch houses
at Graceton soon sheltered families of immigrants who came seeking employment.
An 1890 edition of the Indiana Times noted that "there are 200 Italian employees
at the old Mikesell Coke Works."
At Graceton, serious problems with the coal claimed the attention of the new owners. Graceton coal contained a higher percentage of impurities than that of its competitors in the Connellsville region. For the first few months, McCreary made coke with coal just as it came from the mines at Graceton, but the resulting product was less than satisfactory. In 1894, after several experiments, McCreary adapted plans for a coal washing plant which cleaned the coal of much of its slate and pyrites before being charged into the coke ovens. The coal washing system gave dramatic results, and within a short time, advertising circulars billed Graceton Coke as the "best in the world." In the midst of Harry McCreary's success, tragedy struck. Late in 1898 the coal washer at the Graceton plant burned. Undaunted, the young coke producer started over again, and four months after the fire another coal washer stood on the same spot, rumbling thunderously as it processed clean coal for the ovens. On Jan. 1, 1900, the Graceton Coke Works changed hands once more. On that date, Harry McCreary, having bought out J. W. Moore's share of the McCreary Coke Company, sold the business to Youngstown Steel Company, whose investors renamed the plant "The Graceton Coke Company." The property on the day of transfer consisted of the two coke plants totally 200 bee-hive coke ovens, "the best coal washer in the county," company store, and "company houses enough to accommodate 200 families," and 800 acres of coal lands. Shortly after the purchase, the Indiana County Gazette reported: "There are no dull seasons at Graceton. The market for the product is always sure, as the owners of the plant, the Youngstown Steel Company, burn the Graceton produced coke in their own blast furnaces, which are rarely idle. The coke ovens at Graceton are under the management of a skillful cokemaker, Colonel Everhart Bierer. Colonel Bierer received his training as an engineer and coke man in the Connellsville field. At the two plants, 300 men are employed. The steel company gives Superintendent Bierer a free hand in the management, and simply ask for results; and they get them in quantity and quality a coke unsurpassed anywhere in the United States." By ca.1904, Youngstown Steel Company had purchased another 3,500 acres of coal lands around Graceton and was building more bee-hive coke ovens and a newer coal washer plant at the Graceton Mine. Production at the Graceton Mine & Coke Works in ca.1907 totalled over 143,000 tons of coal, making 87,000 tons of coke in 202 working bee-hive coke ovens. When the Graceton Mine & Coke Works was purchased by Youngstown Steel Company, the small coal company patch town of Graceton was filling up rapidly. By ca.1908, the Graceton Coke Company, under the ownership of Youngstown Steel, was kept busy filling orders in New Jersey and New England. Locally, the Indiana Foundry, manufacturers of sand-drying stoves and many other articles, claimed that the Graceton coke was "better than Connellsville." For nearly 20 years, the Graceton Coke Company continued to produce "low-ash, high-carbon, low-sulphur foundry coke." Under the direction of superintendent C. M. Lingle, "business boomed," and "20 large coke hopper cars were sent out daily." In ca.1914 business was being done as the Graceton Coke Company. Output from the Graceton No. 1 Mine and Graceton No. 2 Mine totalled 188,000 tons of coal and 67,000 tons of coke. Employees numbered 290, of whom 159 of the men and boys were miners. In the summer of 1920, the Graceton Coal & Coke plants and the town of Graceton at the old Mikesell Station were transferred a fourth time. A July issue of the "Indiana Evening Gazette" told the story: "Graceton Coke is sold to New York Interests: Vinton Colliery Company, New York City, N.Y., the Graceton plant with all machinery and equipment, and houses, was acquired by Warren Delano and associates. The price is estimated to be three quarters of a million dollars. Mr. Delano (an uncle of FDR) has other interests in Indiana County," and Cambria County. After the purchase, the name of the plant was changed to Graceton Coal and Coke Company. In 1929 production at Graceton Coal & Coke Company had fallen to 126,000 tons of coal, and 33,000 tons of coke. Only 110 of the 201 bee-hive coke ovens were in use. Employment had dropped to 220 men and boys. Throughout the twenties, sales of coke at Graceton fluctuated with the market. By early 1935, only eight ovens were in operation; most had been shut down since 1932. "In June, 1936, "Led" Oswalt says, "the Graceton Coal and Coke Company went bankrupt. In August, 1936, the company's stock was sold at a receivership in front of the company store. Four men bought the plant; one of them was Abe Light of Punxsutawney. Then the name was changed again to 'Coal Mining Company of Graceton.' "For a while," Oswalt continues, "things were at a standstill; the coal and coke business was really bad. Then World War II broke out and coke was in demand again. Mr. Light bought out the other three men and made coke throughout the war with the plant operating at capacity. "After the war, the Coal Mining Company of Graceton leased the ovens to someone else for a couple of years, but the last men to operate the beehives at Graceton were Smith and Burns, who leased them from the Coal Mining Company of Graceton. They produced coke for eight or ten years. Finally, in March, 1953, the Graceton ovens cooled off for good." |
The Graceton Coke Works after abandonment. |
| During the years of coke production at the
Graceton Coke Works, a second beehive coke operation existed just a few miles
south. In ca.1880, the Indiana Coal and Coke Company was founded by Jacob
and Paul Graff, J. M. Guthrie, G. W. Hoover, John Elkin, and John R. Caldwell.
In the next few years, 24 coke ovens were built on the site and a tiny company
town of six houses was established. Named "Oklahoma," the settlement housed
coke workers from the Indiana Coal and Coke Company plant.
The beehive ovens at Oklahoma were also destined to undergo several transfers of ownership. In 1902, Harry McCreary again entered the coal and coke business with the purchase of the Indiana Coal and Coke Company lands, tipple, and houses. In addition, McCreary purchased 6,000 more acres of adjoining coal lands. Upon completion of all his transactions, McCreary sold the entire parcel of property to Joseph Wharton, a Philadelphia investor whose corporation also owned an iron foundry in Wharton, New Jersey. By ca.1902, the name of the plant and town had been changed to "Coral" local folklore says that the name was derived from the statement of a "oldtime coal prospector." This individual, evidently a far-sighted man, remarked to an early oral historian, "the coal and clay hereabouts will be as valuable as Coral." On acquisition of the Coral properties, Joseph Wharton was understandably anxious to secure the best management for his new plant, and persuaded McCreary to remain as temporary superintendent. By late 1903, 300 ovens and 150 company houses stood at the location. His work completed, Harry McCreary resigned his position with the Wharton corporation; he was succeeded by Thomas Murray. |
| (History of the Graceton Mines & Coke
Works, Graceton, Center Twp., Indiana Co., PA, adapted with additional data
from "Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company, The First One Hundred
Years," by Eileen Mountjoy Cooper, formerly of Indiana University of
Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA. Published by Rochester & Pittsburgh
Coal Company, 1982.)
("History of Coke" by Eileen Mountjoy Cooper, formerly of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA. Published on-line in the series "Coal Dust: The Early Mining Industry of Indiana County" by the Special Collections & Archives Indiana University Library, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA.) (History and description of the Graceton Mines, adapted with additional data from "Indiana County, Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, 1993," America's Industrial Heitage Project, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record, U.S. Department of the Interior, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) |
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